


Unguarded Curls

by JayCKx



Category: Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Detroit Evolution, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gavin Reed Not Being an Asshole, M/M, Romance, Sleepy Cuddles, Soft Gavin Reed, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, ok i love that those are tags, theyre both SOFT here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayCKx/pseuds/JayCKx
Summary: It was the small moments like this that reminded Nines of how strong his feeling of love for Gavin was. Lying in bed in the morning, Gavin resting half on top of him and Nines playing with his hair… it was terribly domestic, and Nines didn’t think he’d ever get enough of it.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 32
Kudos: 253





	Unguarded Curls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatmountainhermit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmountainhermit/gifts).



> this is just an ode to chris trindade's hair im not gonna lie

Nines drew himself out of stasis when he felt Gavin shift gently against him, the first stirrings the man made all night. He registered a hundred things the moment his eyes opened: the time (8.21 A.M); the weather (cloudy, though with little chance of rain); and Gavin’s heart rate and stress levels, amongst other things. He knew Gavin didn’t particularly like Nines scanning him, but it was like an automatic response, something as close to instinct as the android could get. His first thought upon waking was always to make sure that Gavin was okay. And, thankfully, he was. Gavin’s movements weren’t because he was having a nightmare; instead, they were because he was waking up. 

They were lying in bed next to each other, Nines propped up ever so slightly upon some pillows while Gavin lay sprawled almost diagonally across the mattress, using Nines’ shoulder as a pillow. Nines couldn’t really fathom why, seeing as his chassis was hardly more comfortable than the pillows decorating Gavin’s bed, but he appreciated it nonetheless. The contact was… nice. Sweet. It made Nines feel warm, and endeared him greatly to his boyfriend, especially seeing as waking up in this position on a day off meant the probability of them ‘cuddling’ was up 64%. Seeing as Nines didn’t actually need to sleep, not in the same way Gavin did, he usually got up earlier than his boyfriend and made him breakfast before hustling them both out of the door and into work. However, today was Saturday and they had the day off, with no other place they needed to be. Which meant that Nines could lie here for as long as he liked and pay special attention to the heavy huff of air and incoherent grumble Gavin let out as he sluggishly awoke; the way he clung closely to Nines and pressed his face into the android’s shoulder in lieu of opening his eyes to the light filtering in from behind the curtains; the way his arm tightened around Nines’ waist and the feeling of his soft hair tickling Nines’ neck. He was adorable. Not that Nines would ever tell him so, of course, at least not like this. It’d only make Gavin flustered, embarrassed and prickly, and determined never to let Nines see him in that state again in case Nines ever teased him for it. Which was ridiculous, but that was how his boyfriend worked, so Nines bit his tongue and settled for smiling softly at him instead.

“Good morning,” he murmured. There was a pause, and then Gavin groaned.

“M’rning,” he slurred, muffled by Nine’s shoulder. Nine’s grin widened at the almost unintelligible word. A fond feeling bubbled up in his chest, light and fluttery and unbearably warm, an emotion Nines only ever felt when he was around Gavin. He glanced away from the human, staring at the ceiling and smiling to himself instead. The skin on his hand retracted without Nines’ permission, the gleaming white chassis revealing itself. He brought the hand up to comb through Gavin’s curly hair without thinking, feeling the silky strands slip between his fingers over and over. Gavin hummed and curled into him, tilting his head and arching into the touch, much like Gavin’s cat did whenever he or Gavin petted it. Nines looked back down and saw Gavin’s eyes were still closed, his long, dark eyelashes feathery against his cheeks, but his face was smoothed out in contentment. Nines studied his face for a moment; he already had every angle, expression and feature perfectly memorised, of course, but each time he looked at his boyfriend he just wanted to remain still and gaze at him for a while. Androids were designed to be aesthetically pleasing, but Gavin was beautiful in a way Nines sometimes found hard to describe. Nines didn’t scar, didn’t break, didn’t change; he was, objectively, flawless. But Gavin’s beauty was different and strong; his handsomeness was rough and real from the curve of his lips to the arch of his eyebrows, from the scar arcing across the bridge of his nose to the scratch of his stubble, from the (gradually lessening) shadows under his eyes to the fluffy curls of his hair.

Speaking of… Nines’ eyes flickered to the hair that he was slowly running his fingers through, and remained fixated there. During the day Gavin usually had his hair gelled and combed back, wrestled into a sort of tousled neatness. It still waved and curled, but less so than it naturally would, and in a contained and held back way. It had taken a surprising amount of time for Gavin to let Nines see his hair undone, which Nines hadn’t expected but supposed was just another one of Gavin’s peculiarities, or vulnerable points. In the beginning they never saw each other past work hours, and then, slowly, they’d begun spending time after work together. But as long as Nines was around, whether they’d been on a stakeout or he was staying the night at Gavin’s place, the man went to bed with his hair still done (if looser and messier than it had been during the day). And when he awoke in the morning his curls would have sprung out slightly more, but the sight never lasted long before Gavin was showering or redoing his hair, and it was never as wild as Nines now knew the hair would be if left untouched. But now they were in a relationship Gavin had begun to let Nines see him in the morning, or after a shower, with his hair dry and clean and curly.

He’d washed it last night, and the hood he slept in had slipped down in the night, which meant that Nines could see the thick mop perfectly. The brunette curls were loose and wild, splaying in every direction. His hair was light and fluffy in the absence of any hair gel or product, the curls and floof sticking out in every which way. Nines grinned as he stared at it, even as the area where his thirium pump was clenched almost painfully. Nines _loved_ him, it was one of the only feelings he was 100% certain of, and despite all the near death experiences, exhilarating moments, and romantic gestures they’d shared, somehow it was the small moments like this that reminded him how strong that feeling of love was. Lying in bed in the morning, Gavin resting half on top of him and Nines playing with his hair… it was terribly domestic, and Nines didn’t think he’d ever get enough of it. He was blessed to be allowed to see all Gavin’s defenses down. He remembered that first time he’d stayed the night with Gavin; how Gavin had opened up to him after his nightmare, sought comfort for the first time in who knows how long, and finally let himself be vulnerable around the android. And Nines remembered how confused and hurt he’d been the next morning when Gavin had abruptly clammed up and closed off, with panic, mortification and self-hate radiating off him as he realised he’d shown the android such a strongly protected side of himself, until he was _yelling_ at Nines to get out. Thankfully, that hadn’t happened since. Gavin’s openness and vulnerability were clear to Nines now in the way his muscles remained relaxed; in how unabashedly he held onto Nines; in the way Gavin let Nines run his fingers through his hair, hold him close, and smile gently at him without him pulling away, or speaking up, or even opening his eyes.

Wait, scratch that.

When he glanced down he saw one of Gavin’s eyes was now open, peeking at him from where he was snuggling against Nine’s shoulder and crinkling with amusement. Its enchanting hazel colour was practically sparkling.

“Enjoying yourself?” Gavin teased. Nines’ fingers froze where they were tangled in the locks.

“Your hair is rather fluffy today,” Nines said, not bothering to stop the shit-eating grin that spread across his face. Gavin scrunched up his face and scowled up at him.

“Shut the fuck up,” he groaned. Nines paused for a second, trying to figure out if Gavin was actually annoyed or insecure, but Gavin solved his problem a moment later.

“...I didn’t say stop,” he grumbled. Nines’ smile returned, more tender this time.

“Of course.”

He resumed running his hand through the ruffled curls, scratching his fingertips gently along Gavin’s scalp as he went. The human sighed in contentment, eyes slipping closed again, and Nines suddenly wondered when, if ever, the last time somebody had done something like this for Gavin was. When he’d last been granted a simple, comforting touch just for the sake of it. Despite his face being mainly hidden by Nines’ own chest, he could see that Gavin’s expression was calm and happy. Nines knew, with a twist in his chest, that it had been a long time before Nines that Gavin had allowed himself to be so close to someone, especially the kind of person willing to do loving things like this with him. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Gavin’s temple, unable to resist the urge. Gavin blinked his eyes open again, but when he saw whatever emotion Nines’ face was currently showing and the way the android’s smile had dropped, his pleased expression flickered and dimmed.

“You alright?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, of course. I just… love you, Gavin,” Nines replied. Gavin’s eyes widened fractionally, the way they did almost every time Nines admitted his love. Gavin knew Nines loved him, and Nines knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was loved in return, but Gavin still seemed in disbelief about it sometimes.

“I know,” he said gently. “I love you too, tin can.” Nines chuckled and rolled his eyes in mock exasperation at the name.

“You’re insufferable.”

“Says you! That’s probably the one word in the English language that best describes you,” Gavin jabbed. 

“Shut up, asshole,” Nines grinned, and Gavin barked out a laugh, flipping onto his back but keeping his head resting on Nines’ shoulder.

“Pass me my phone,” he said, and Nines grabbed his phone off the dresser and handed it to the man. Gavin opened it up and gestured airily at Nines without even sparing him a glance.

“Continue.”

“You’re not _royalty_ ,” Nines spluttered, amused despite himself, and reached out to tug sharply on a curl.

“Ow, fucker, do it properly!” Gavin scowled. Nines smiled sweetly at him.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he said innocently.

“Yeah, yeah, butter wouldn’t melt in your plastic mouth,” Gavin scoffed, and turned back to his screen. Nines quietly resumed threading his fingers through Gavin’s hair, and they remained like that for a while, Gavin scrolling through social media and Nines lost in his own head. 

Nines messaged Connor for a bit, skimmed over their current case file again, then read through some of the latest news articles. It was past 9 A.M when he decided he was growing bored, and he turned his attention back to the hair he’d absently been messing with. He experimentally pulled a fluffy lock upwards, and watched as it swayed gently and stayed in place. His lips quirked in amusement and he wrapped a tight curl around his finger, pulling it until it straightened out, then let go and watched it ping back into place. Gavin raised his eyebrows, looking upwards from his phone towards his own hairline, then glanced at Nines wryly.

“Really?” he deadpanned. Nines silently unfurled another small curl and let go, watching it instantly roll itself back up. Gavin rolled his eyes. “Alright, that’s enough of that.” He heaved a long-suffering sigh and hoisted himself up, rolling out of bed. Nines raised his eyebrows but followed him easily, dusting himself off.

“Breakfast?” he asked. Gavin stretched, his arms extending above his head and muscles tensing, and groaned. 

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” The man wandered over to his drawers and opened one, digging through for a change of clothes. Nines lingered by the doorway, watching him attentively. That way he saw the moment Gavin glanced tiredly upwards and caught sight of himself in the mirror. His eyes widened and his hand flew up to the top of his head, to the hair that now looked twice as messy and voluminous as usual due to Nines’ lazy, mischievous interference.

“What the fuck did you do to my _hair_!?” he cried in disbelief. Nines laughed loudly and ducked out of the room.

“ _Nines!_ This is going to take forever to fix!”

“I think you look fine,” Nines called back, grinning stupidly. “Keep it like that!”

“I hate you!”

“You _love_ me,” Nines shot back loudly, stepping into the kitchen. 

“ _Asshole!_ ” Gavin hollered. Nines could picture him still standing by the mirror, staring in horror at the curly, fluffy mess that was now his hair. He laughed in response.

“I love you too, Gavin!”

**Author's Note:**

> comments are everything ;)


End file.
